


Deus ex machina

by fl4nel



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, Minor Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, brokuros, im a fencing enthusiast and i need to chill, kagehina is hinted, this is the fencing au nobody asked for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-29
Updated: 2015-03-29
Packaged: 2018-03-19 05:05:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3597429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fl4nel/pseuds/fl4nel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fencing shenanigans.</p><p>Iwaizumi just wanted to be a good senpai. Akaashi has tattoos and Bokuto is uncharacteristically clumsy. Not that these two things have anything to do with one another.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Deus ex machina

**Author's Note:**

> Okay this might be the most selfish thing I have ever written. But it's also the only thing I managed to finish so far.  
> Hum, I am aware that not everyone is familiar with the way fencing competitions actually work so let me explain it real quick (if you are familiar with it though feel free to go directly to the story): 
> 
> 1- You have three different weapon categories : Foil, Sabre and Epee. The swords are different from one another and the valid zone for a point differs on your opponent's body depending on the weapon. I don't really insist on the technical aspects here so you should be fine with that.  
> 2-Age categories go basically this way: 15 and under, 17 and under (Cadet), 20 and under (Junior), everyone over 12 is Senior, and Veteran is for people over 40. You can enter every category in which your age is valid. For instance, a cadet can enter a Junior competition, but the opposite doesn't work.  
> 3-The competitions usually start with pools that are decided randomly or through your rankings. You have small groups of like 5-6-7 persons and you fence against everyone. The bouts are on five points. Then every participant is ranked depending on their ratio of victories/defeats and the number of points they made. Those rankings are for the direct elimination bouts which are on 15 points with three time periods of three minutes each. The elimination goes on with different rounds until there is one winner. Usually you have 2 persons that win third place, except in official events where there can be only one winner.  
> 4-As for the equipement, it also changes a little with each weapon even though you always have a jacket, high socks, pants, a glove, a mask, and a chest protector with a tiny half-shirt underneath it.  
> 5-The whole thing works through electricity and under the supervision of a ref. I won't get into details here but your weapon is connected to the piste/strip where you fence so that when you touch your opponent it makes a beeping sound.
> 
> I could go on forever but I think that's the basics or at least what you might need to know before you read? I hope it'll help! If you have any more questions, don't be afraid to hmu either in the comments or on tumblr @kazayu

They were amongst the first ones to arrive. The gym was still mostly empty, aside from the techs assembling fencing strips and testing electronic equipment.  Iwaizumi took a deep breath. Yeah. That’s what he liked the most. The atmosphere before a completion somehow felt really calm to him and he absolutely lived for those few minutes of tranquility before everyone arrived.

He glanced at the rest of his club, walking slowly behind him as they made their way to an empty spot near a corner. Matsukawa didn’t look particularly nervous, as usual. He was, after all, pretty used to competitions, although Iwaizumi suspected he would start to fidget a little when the pools were going to get out. Kindaichi, on the other hand, seemed pretty apprehensive. But he also seemed excited, Iwaizumi noted, which was a good thing. Akaashi and Tsukkishima were both deep in thought, with headphones on their ears, trying to concentrate probably. And Iwaizumi could already tell that it wasn’t working very well for Tsukkishima by the unpleasant look he had on his face. He was in the same boat as Kindaichi. Both had started fencing a couple months ago and today was the first time they were going to participate in an actual competition.

Once they had dropped off their bags, Iwaizumi turned to his juniors. “Hey you two, take your time warming up and don’t forget to register and check up your equipment.” Kindaichi nodded with enthusiasm. “Also, since it’s actually your first competition remember you are here for the experience, ok? No pressure!” Kindaichi nodded again while Tsukkishima looked frankly annoyed. He jumped when Akaashi landed a hand on his shoulder and smiled softly. His headphones were unplugged and rested against his neck. “Don’t worry about him, Iwaizumi-san. Let the foil fencers do their thing.” Matsukawa copied his move with Kindaichi, who was as startled as Tsukkishima. He brought an arm around his shoulder. “Yeah that’s right. Epée fencers don’t need advice from _your kind.”_

Iwaizumi huffed and grinned. “That’s actually unfair, guys. I don’t have anyone to back me up.” Iwaizumi was actually the only one from their club to come to the competition as a sabre fencer. Usually Yaku and Lev were with him, but Lev had unsurprisingly broken his leg two weeks ago while Yaku had caught a mean cold and was stuck in bed with a fever. Matsukawa shrugged and sighed dramatically, taking off his arm from around Kindaichi. “Not my fault! Now if you’ll excuse us“, he said while pulling Kindaichi along, “ _Our_ competition actually starts sooner than yours and we need to register before the crowd arrives.” Dragging a dazed-looking Kindaichi behind him, he took off in direction of the registration tables where a few people already gathered.

Iwaizumi smiled.

Tsukkishima shook off Akaashi’s hand and went to stretch on his own, after making sure to grab his headphones. Iwaizumi raised a brow and made a move in his direction but Akaashi stopped him with a hand on his arm.

“It’s fine, Iwaizumi-san. Really.  I mean it’s his first competition so it’s normal. Maybe he just needs to be alone for a while.”

“If you say so,” Iwaizumi answered, still unsure.

He finally decided to let it slide and both of them went back to their bags to get dressed. As he was taking off his training trousers revealing his fencing pants, he couldn’t help a quick glance at his friend. Akaashi was currently changing shirts and the action revealed the tattoos he had on his chest. An intricate tribal design with writings and geometric shapes as well as a huge owl with his wings spread decorated his skin. The black ink made quite the contrast with his fair complexion and if he was being honest, Iwaizumi had to admit that Akaashi wore his tattoos really well.

Like, really well.

And apparently, he wasn’t the only one. A grey-haired guy suddenly tripped over himself while passing beside them. He fell face first into the floor. His friend, a tall and lanky fencer with impressive behead exploded in laughter. “Oh, bro. That was so lame, sooo lame. I can’t believe you!” The first guy stood up slowly, face flushed deep red and _definitely_ avoiding looking in Akaashi’s  direction. Akaashi was staring at him with wide eyes, his shirt halfway around his torso. “Shut up Kuroo! The damn strip was in the way, that’s all!” His friend didn’t answer but took his arm and brought him away, his shoulders still shaking with laughter.

Akaashi coughed uncomfortably and quickly pulled his shirt the rest of the way. A faint blush tinted his cheeks and Iwaizumi chose to shut up, despite the laugh bubbling in the back of his throat. “Well,” he said quickly changing the subject, “I think I’m going to go register too?” Akaashi absentmindedly nodded and Iwaizumi quickly finished changing, grabbing his mask and sabres for the equipment check-up as well.

 

 

***

 Oikawa Tooru was pissed. He had woken up less than two hours ago and already he could tell his day was going to suck. First, he never found his favorite pair of fencing socks when he searched for them this morning -he had looked everywhere, really- so he had to take his old ones, the ones that itched horribly. Then when Hanamaki and he had arrived to the competition site, Tooru had learned that Kageyama Tobio was going to participate in his age category. _Kageyama Tobio._ As ifthe guy didn’t have enough with winning everything under fifteen! He had to try and invade _his_ category as well, hadn’t he? Of course Oikawa knew Tobio was in his every right to participate _but still._ And finally, _finally,_ he noticed while unpacking his bag that he had forgotten his body cord at the club yesterday and that he didn’t have enough time to go back and actually get it. So he had had to buy a new one and those were _expensive_ for god’s sake. He grumbled to himself while pulling on his sneakers.

“Hey stop pouting, stupid. You are going to scare your fans away, is that what you want?” Hanamaki teased him. Tooru gave a quick glance to the platform where a few girls already gathered. He smiled sincerely and waved at them, resulting in giggles and a couple of kya’s. Oikawa never really got used to all the attention he received from the girls at his school but he appreciated it anyways. Being nice to them while they were being nice to him was the least he could do, really. He glared at Hanamaki and huffed while flipping his hair.

“Shut up, Maki. Even I can have off-days, you know?”

Hanamaki blinked incredulously and put a hand on his chest in a dramatic motion. “Well, actually I didn’t know. First time I’m hearing about it, honestly. Hey Suga,” he called, “did you know that Oikawa could actually fence _and_ not be at the top of his form?”

The grey-haired foil fencer gasped. “You mean both? At the same time? That’s impossible, I don’t believe you!”

Oikawa shook his head and buried it in his hands. “What did I do to deserve this?” he muttered. Pointing an accusatory finger to the duo, he declared “Neither of you actually deserves to be dignified by my presence, that’s what it is. ” Hanamaki snorted and Sugawara laughed loudly.

“Stop it! Both of you! Don’t you have better things to do than to mock a poor troubled athlete?”

Hanamaki stuck out his tongue at him before disappearing somewhere to get warmed up with the other foil fencers. He heard Suga whisper a tiny _poor troubled athlete my ass_ but he was gone just as fast, with a last mischievous glimpse in his direction.

 

Oikawa sighed. This was no good. They had laugh about it but it was true: he obviously wasn’t in top condition. Which was both unusual and incredibly frustrating. How in the world was he supposed to beat Ushijima like this? Hell, how in the world was he going to even beat Tobio? He groaned and rubbed his face with his hands.

His coach was walking by him when he noticed the look on Oikawa’s face. He sat down next to him, concern on his features.

“Everything is good, Oikawa?”

“Yeah,” he answered softly, “I think I just need to focus.”

The coach gave him a little squeeze on his shoulder before standing up. “Then get to it, you still have a few minutes before the pools come out. Don’t forget to warm up.”

Oikawa nodded and stood up as well. He went to his bag and put a workout playlist on his Ipod. Slowly, he started to jog on an unoccupied strip.

He emptied his mind, concentrating on his breathing.

He could do this.

 

 

A few minutes later, he had gained at least a part of his concentration back and stopped running to keep his stamina for the actual competition. He congratulated himself mentally and grabbed his water bottle just a voice on the speakers announced the pools. Oikawa quickly snatched the rest of his equipment and made his way to his assigned strip. At least, neither Tobio nor Ushijima seemed to be in his pool. _That’s good_ , he thought _, I’ll have a little more time to adjust._

He was called for the first bout, along with some Kindaichi guy he never heard about. Usually, you’d at least recognize the fencer’s name, for they were very conveniently printed in capital letters in the back of every fencer’s jacket. He must be new then, Oikawa concluded. He was relieved a little. Maybe this was going to be fine.

Despite his height, Kindaichi didn’t have anything in particular that would have caught Oikawa’s attention outside of a match. What did however, was the sabre fencer that was with him. Handsome, tall, maybe only an inch smaller than him, with short dark hair and broad shoulders. And damn. Those thighs. He was probably someone from his club, who came to cheer on him on his first competition or something. Oikawa pouted slightly. Why didn’t _he_ have a handsome sabre fencer to cheer on him?

Waiting patiently at the middle of the strip while the ref was checking his epée, he overheard parts of their conversation.

“Just. Stay calm, okay?”

“But Iwaizumi-san! He’s _Oikawa Tooru_!”

Iwaizumi eyes then crossed his and Tooru smiled widely. The sabre fencer raised a brow but seemed to remind unfazed nonetheless. Kindaichi appeared to be positively terrified though, and he gave Iwaizumi a panicked glare. Good. So the kid knew who he was. Tooru felt a little bad for him but come on. He had to learn to toughen up a little. He chuckled.

“Hey now ! No worries! I have never eaten anyone and I don’t intend to start today!”

The ref interrupted them to check on Kindaichi’s equipment and Iwaizumi retreated to the side of the strip after a clap of encouragement on his junior’s back and a puzzled look in Oikawa’s direction.

 

 

 

***

So this was Oikawa Tooru. Iwaizumi had heard about him, of course, but never really took the time to look up his name. Hell, they weren’t even in the same weapon category so what was the point? Matsukawa had mentioned him a few times in the past though, had told Iwaizumi how terrifying it was to fence against him. “It’s super stressful because he picks on even the smallest mistakes you make and use them against you some way or another. And he’s good. He’s not second in the province for nothing.”

That he was good, Iwaizumi could obviously see that. He won his match against Kindaichi with ease, with precision and without any unnecessary movements.  And even if the final score had been 5-0 in his favor, he hadn’t looked smug about it. At all. He even gave Kindaichi a piece of advice, something about always staying on the move, when they shook hands at the end. Kindaichi seemed less scared and more impressed by him, which Iwaizumi took as a good sign.

Iwaizumi would have liked to stay and watch the rest of the pools but hey, he had his own competition to win. He felt a little disappointed, though. He swore it was not because he was curious about Oikawa Tooru. No. It was simply because he wanted to make sure Kindaichi was alright. Nothing to do, really, with Oikawa’s pretty face and impressive skills.

Nonsense.

 

He almost snorted when he realized that the two guys from the incident with Akaashi were in his pool. Both bedhead guy and face plant dude. When the latter recognized him, he whispered “Oh fuck” to his friend who almost died from laughter a second time. Bed head guy came up to Iwaizumi, wiping tears of joy in his eyes.

“I’m so-sorry it has to be like this”, he giggled, out of breath, “but I’m Kuroo Testsurou and that idiot over there is Bokuto Koutarou. Nice to meet you.”

At this point, Iwaizumi wasn’t even trying to hide his grin.

“Iwaizumi Hajime, nice to meet you bo-.”

His mind suddenly made a complete stop.

Where had he heard those names before? His eyes grew large as realization hit him.

“W-Wait”, he stuttered, “you guys are-“

“The national champions in team fencing, that’s right!” Bokuto interrupted. He had traded his flushed face for a proud one and seemed grateful for the change in the atmosphere.

“Actually,” Kuroo intervened, “We did third place, Bo.”

“So? That’s still a podium at the nationals, right?”

“True enough,” he agreed after a short moment of reflexion. He then turned to Iwaizumi with a smirk on his face.

“Hope that doesn’t scare you, though. You look like a worthy opponent and I would hate to have to fence against you if you are not in top shape.”

Iwaizumi smirked back.

“Face planting right in front of me was an efficient way to put me at ease, don’t worry about it.”

Bokuto looked positively offended while Kuroo literally exploded in laughter once again and gave a few claps on Iwaizumi’s back.

“You are a good guy, Iwaizumi. I like you.”

 

Iwaizumi ended up losing against both of them, 3-5 against Kuroo and 4-5 against Bokuto. The two had similar styles, although Bokuto had a little more power in his moves while Kuroo seemed to rely a lot on strategy. _I can see why they make such a good team,_ he thought, _they complement each other quite well._

The rest of his pools went well and with two defeats and three victories he could expect to be put somewhere in the upper half of the rankings, which he considered good enough for the upcoming elimination bouts. Sighing, he took off his mask and put it under his arm with the intention of walking back to his bag to grab a snack.

He turned around quite abruptly and made contact with something hard with an elegant _oof._ Rubbing his nose, he raised his eyes to meet two browns irises looking at him curiously.

Oikawa Tooru.

He had managed to collide with Oikawa Tooru. Of all people.

_He sure has nice eyes._

Wait-what was he thinking? Iwaizumi felt his cheeks becoming hot and he literally jumped away before muttering an apology under his breath. Fuck. What the hell was wrong with him?

Oikawa smiled brightly and made a dismissive motion with his hand.

“Iwaizumi, was it? It’s fine, don’t sweat it! I wasn’t actually looking where I was going either”, Oikawa admitted, looking sincere. He seemed at little flushed though, which Iwaizumi put on the account of physical activity.

Iwaizumi scratched his head.

“Oh. Hum. That’s good. In that case, I guess I’ll keep going?”

Why was he asking a question? He shook his head and made a step in the other direction. Oikawa grabbed his arm.

“Wait! Hold up!”

Iwaizumi stared at him with wide eyes. Oikawa visibly reddened before letting go of his arm. He gained his composure quickly enough and chuckled.

 “I think your cute junior might be looking for you, Iwa-chan! Kindaich-“

 “What the hell,” Iwaizumi interrupted, “What did you call me?”

Where the fuck did that nickname even come from? Iwa-chan? Was this guy for real?

“Kindaichi-chan seemed quite worried about his first direct elimination bout!” Oikawa went on, deliberately ignoring the comment,” He kept asking for Iwa-chan’s advice.”

He groaned.

“Don’t call me that, Oikawa.”

Oikawa beamed.

“Aw, so you do know my name!”

Iwaizumi scoffed and glared at the fencer without a word. True enough Kindaichi would probably be a little nervous right now but why did Oikawa cared? And what the fuck was up with that damn nickname? How annoying.

“Where is Kindaichi right now?” he finally asked.

Oikawa’s eyes glinted.

“Right about now, probably on the first strip fighting his first opponent,” he offered. “Pretty sure he could use a piece of advice from his experimented senior. He’s kind of in a pinch but I’m sure Iwa-chan could help him!”

Iwaizumi raised his eyes to the ceiling.

“Yeah, whatever.”

He turned around and walked away quickly in the direction Oikawa indicated and yelled over his shoulder “Thanks for telling me!”

He intentionally ignored the “No problem, Iwa-chan!” that answered him back.

 

 

 

***

Kageyama Tobio.

Oikawa’s first match was going to be against Kageyama Tobio. Well, nothing was decided yet –Tobio still had to defeat his opponent first- but most likely, it was going to happen and Oikawa wasn’t sure he was in good position to win against the boy. Too many things were off today, even if he did manage to automatically pass to the second round.

So when he heard that Tobio’s opponent was going to be Kindaichi and that the latter was desperately struggling to keep his focus during their spear, he had jumped on the occasion. Well, he was helping out, right? And maybe, just maybe, with Iwa-chan’s intervention, Kindaichi would somehow manage to win against Tobio and that would spare Oikawa of doing so himself. And that would be one less obstacle to his revenge against Ushijima.

Oikawa had learn to never EVER underestimate an opponent on simple assumptions but he assessed that fighting Kindaichi would be the safest option for him in all of this. He just didn’t want to fight against Kageyama.

 Eventually following Iwaizumi, Oikawa arrived near the first strip just as the referee was announcing a break. The score was 11-4 in Kageyama’s favor and he restrained himself from making an unpleasant face in his direction when to boy noticed his presence.  Tobio seemed calm and collected though, listening and nodding to his coach’s advice with religious attention and holy shit, that was a first. The Kageyama Tooru remembered was a bratty kid who couldn’t be bothered to actually take an advice once in a while.

“Oh well. People change, I supposed,” Oikawa whispered to himself.

He then glanced at Kindaichi who looked visibly relieved now that Iwaizumi was there. At the beginning of his match, he had looked terrified and Oikawa had been afraid he wouldn’t have been able to make a single point because of how stiff he was. And since Iwaizumi seemed like a good support for the kid, Oikawa had taken the initiative to go looking up for him and by the look on Kindaichi’s face, it had been the right decision.

After having listened to his coach with a devotion rivaling Kageyama’s, Kindaichi turned around to face Iwaizumi who grabbed his shoulders.

“Listen up, Kindaichi. I know you are nervous because Kageyama is really strong but you know what, I think right now you are more concerned about who you’ll be facing if you win this match,” Iwaizumi assessed, quickly glancing at Oikawa who blinked innocently, “And that’s the worst mistake you could have made, do you understand?”

Kindaichi nodded stiffly.

“You have to focus on what’s happening in front of you, okay? You’ll have no chance of defeating Oikawa if you don’t manage to win against Kageyama first. One point at the time.”

The ref’s whistle cut their conversation short but Kindaichi already appeared to be a lot more confident. He thanked Iwaizumi and put on his mask before getting in position.

To Oikawa’s surprise, Iwaizumi came to stand beside him.

“Why did you help Kindaichi? And How did you know I could help?” he asked.

Oikawa shrugged and smiled.

“He’s a nice boy and I saw how he looked up to you during the pools,” he explained _. Also I don’t like Tobio and I’d rather fight Kindaichi._

Iwaizumi stared at him for a few seconds.

“What? I’m usually pretty good at sizing people, Iwa-chan! Don’t give me that look!” Oikawa defended himself.

Iwaizumi gave him a death glare. “Also, can I ask what Kageyama Tobio did to deserve your dislike?” he asked again.

Oikawa choked on his saliva and stared at Iwaizumi in disbelief while the latter smiled smugly. Had he heard right? How did Iwa-chan know?

“Seems like you aren’t the only one who’s good at reading others, huh Oikawa?”

Exclamations caught their attention and they both whipped their head in the direction of the noise.

Kindaichi had manage to close the gap a little and the score was now standing at 13 to 7. Iwaizumi huffed proudly and it made Oikawa smile.

“Iwa-chan, you’re like a dad,” he teased.

Iwaizumi became red.

“Don’t say things like that! It’s embarrassing!” he protested.

“Whatever you say, Iwa-chan!”  

“Stop calling me Iwa-chan!”

“Ow! Don’t hit me!”

 

 

 

The final score had been 15 to 9 for Kageyama.

And he was about to begin his match against Oikawa.

Although Tooru was disappointed Kindaichi didn’t win, he still felt a lot better about the whole thing than what he had expected. And maybe, just _maybe_ that Iwaizumi had something to do with it.

Oikawa kind of understood why Kindaichi relied so much on Iwaizumi. He had a very relaxing presence, something that gave off the feelings of strength and reliability and chatting with him- even just for a few minutes- had been really calming.

Oikawa breathed deeply before putting on his mask and getting on guard. Right in front of him, he could see Kageyama doing just the same.

He exhaled.

He could win. He could do it easily. Tobio wasn’t even his goal. Ushijima was.

Kageyama was just an obstacle.

 

True to himself, Kageyama tried to attack as soon as the ref gave the _allez_ signal. Oikawa felt relieved. So the boy hadn’t changed that much in a year. That was good to know. He parried the lunge with ease and managed to touch Tobio as he was retreating.

The electronic beep announcing his point never felt this satisfying.

“Kageyama!! Be more patient!” a voice suddenly yelled from the audience.

Tooru gave a quick glance to the side and noticed an angry looking fencer with orange hair. He was sitting cross-legged near Tobio’s side of the strip. Had he come to cheer on him? That was unusual. And troubling. Oikawa had never seen anyone cheer for Tobio before.

What was even more troubling was Kageyama’s reaction. While going back on guard, he answered back with a snarl. “I know that already, dumbass!”

Oikawa narrowed his eyes. Had…Kageyama made…a friend?

At the next signal, Tobio surprisingly took the advice he received and simply jumped on place, waiting for Oikawa.

Annoying.

Tooru came closer, watching his opponent carefully.

He feinted, expecting a reaction he could use to his advantage and received instead a small, precise touch on his wrist.

Oikawa’s heartbeat started accelerating. Tobio was actually thinking. He wasn’t purely acting on instinct like he used to. Wrist touches were impossible to pull off otherwise.

He gritted his teeth. This could mean a lot of trouble.

 

After three minutes of sparring, the score was tied at 6 and Oikawa could feel frustration taking over. He knew he was losing his cool but hell, none of his attacks actually worked the way they were supposed to. Tobio seemed to read him like Oikawa himself used to read him and that was ironic and annoying to the highest point.

He needed to defeat Tobio.

His coach’s voice found very little echo in Tooru’s mind and the worry he saw in his eyes only fueled his anger.

His coach shouldn’t be worried. He knew him and his sparring style more than anyone. He also knew Tobio’s style and shouldn’t be _worried._ There was no way Tooru would lose to him.

No fucking way.

 

The next period proved Oikawa wrong.

Kageyama turned the score around and had now an advance of three points while Tooru hadn’t been able to score by himself at all. Only doubles.

Tooru wasn’t angry anymore. He was desperate.

And now, Iwaizumi was amongst the audience. Arms crossed on his chest, he was staring straight at Oikawa. Great. Yet another person he would disappoint. He wiped the sweat from his face with his arm and took a long gulp from his water bottle.

Oikawa stared back. Iwaizumi didn’t look disappointed though. He didn’t even seem to pity him or anything. He looked like he was waiting for something. He looked…expectant.

Oikawa huffed with annoyance. What did he know?

Iwaizumi held Tooru’s gaze and then turned his head very slowly until he was staring right at Kindaichi who was standing beside him. He then turned around again in that same very deliberate motion to meet Oikawa’s eyes. His pupils were narrowed as if he wanted Tooru to understand something.

Oh shit.

Realization hit Oikawa square in the face.

_“Listen up, Kindaichi. I know you are nervous because Kageyama is really strong but you know what, I think right now you are more concerned about who you’ll be facing if you win this match. And that’s the worst mistake you could have made, do you understand?”_

_“You have to focus on what’s happening in front of you, okay? You’ll have no chance of defeating Oikawa if you don’t manage to win against Kageyama first. One point at the time.”_

Oikawa chuckled to himself, earning a concerned look from his coach. Iwaizumi’s words were for him as well. He had no chance of defeating Ushijima, at all, if he didn’t focus all his energy and attention to the match taking place in front of him. Yes, Tobio had changed. His junior had evolved for the better. But so did he, after all.

He winked and mouthed _Thank you_ to Iwaizumi who immediately looked down with a faint blush on his cheeks while Kindaichi looked between the two of them with confusion.

Kageyama Tobio was going down.

 

 

***

Iwaizumi visibly shivered. Oikawa Tooru was scary enough already but his focused stance was downright terrifying. From the moment he had gotten on guard at the beginning of his third period against Tobio up until the moment where he was right now, facing Ushijima just before the finals, determination never left his eyes and none of his opponents had stood a chance. He had won 15-11 against Kageyama, an impressive feat considering he was losing 11-8 and managed to prevent Tobio from scoring even once until their bout was over. His opponents for the other rounds all suffered a similar fate and Oikawa defeated them all with ease.

The fencer was both exactly like he thought he would be and completely the opposite. Yeah, he was pretty, confident and talented but he was also really insecure about his skills. Iwaizumi had seen him doubt his own ability against Tobio, someone two years less experimented than him.

Iwaizumi was glad he could have helped him somehow though he never expected the radical change in Oikawa’s attitude. Well, ultimately it had been for the better, right?

Hajime had unfortunately found himself sparring against Kuroo for his third round and it had been the end of his own competition and he could have left but he found himself observing Oikawa’s elimination bouts with interest. Kindaichi and the rest of his friends eventually all left, leaving him alone and without any legitimate reasons to watch Oikawa.

“Aw, you’re rooting for me, aren’t you, Iwa-chan?”

“Don’t be stupid, Shittikawa. I don’t have anything else to do, that’s it. Like I’d ever want to cheer on you!”

“So mean!”

Oikawa had noticed. Of course.

 

 

Ushijima won the match by the skin of his teeth.

15-14.

Iwaizumi had stayed for the whole thing and although the results weren’t that surprising, he had had a little hope that Oikawa would manage to actually get the victory he craved.

“You know, Ushiwaka-chan has it all”, Oikawa had explained to him between two of his elimination matches, “He’s left-handed and he can actually use a straight grip. That gives him a big advantage.”

“That’s all?”

“Don’t _that’s all_ me, Iwa-chan. Straight grips are hard to handle once you get used to orthopedic ones. I tried to switch once but it didn’t really work. Actually, it didn’t work at all.”

“Why do you try so hard, then? I’m just asking, though. No reproaches here.”

Oikawa had looked away.

“I need to prove it to myself. I need to prove to myself that hard work can rival natural ability and that it can actually win against it. I need to know that I’m not working in vain. It’s important to me.”

And that’s the moment where Iwaizumi had known for sure that Oikawa wasn’t nearly as shallow as he gave off the impression to be. Under his bubbling personality and endless teasing, he was actually quite sensitive. Sensitive but not fragile. Iwaizumi never once had the feeling that Oikawa Tooru was fragile.

Not when he had walked up to Iwaizumi after his defeat with glassy eyes and his chin held high.

Not when he had taken the time to thank him again for his silent words when he had fought Tobio.

Not when he had wiped his eyes in an angry motion and cursed under his breath.

 

Oikawa Tooru wasn’t fragile.

He was strong. He was determined. He was human, too.

 

So when Oikawa had asked him in a tiny _tiny_ voice if Iwaizumi intended to stay at the gymnasium until the very end of the competitions because he wanted to try defeating Ushijima again in the Senior category starting later tonight, he had said yes. Even if it was never his intention and that he had training early tomorrow morning.

Oikawa’s smile had been worth it.

 

And Iwaizumi had no idea how this had happened, yet there he was, sitting with his back on the wall and with Oikawa Tooru sleeping in his lap. The weight wasn’t annoying and Oikawa’s face actually looked at peace despite the people still circulating around them getting ready for bouts. While staring at Oikawa’s pretty features and heaving chest, fighting the urge to brush his bangs away and kiss his forehead, Iwaizumi thought to himself that perhaps he had lost his competition but actually won something of much greater value today.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to apologize for my lack of knowledge regarding English verb tenses. I'm still getting used to write in English so yeah. THANK YOU FOR READING!  
> aah i forgot to mention it but different types of handles for your weapon exist. The most commonly used is an orthopedic handle that kind of look like a pistol? The other kind of grip I mentioned is a straight grip who's harder to control but can actually give you a few cm on your opponent.  
> And yeah. Lefty fencers are trouble lmao  
> Also talk to me on tumblr @kazayu if you have any other fencing related questions!  
> Or just cry about oikawa and keiji with me


End file.
